10 of the Best Ikea Food Court Items, Ranked and Rated

How to get some serious bang for your buck.

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When I first think of the Swedish furniture giant, I usually think of Alan keys and every single item of furniture in my first apartment, not necessarily the food. That might be a mistake though. The Ikea food court is starting to generate a lot of hype for its almost unbelievably low prices and surprisingly good food.

So, to give you guys a guide to the world's largest furniture store's ready-to-eat food options, my friend and I trekked over to our local Ikea and tried almost every single menu item. This list is our 10 favorite items, rated based on appearance, taste, and how fresh we thought it was based on only taste and texture. Enjoy!

10. Mac and Cheese - $4.99

Appearance: 8/10

This basic noodle and cheesy sauce mac and cheese lacks some toasty breadcrumbs for texture, but it makes up for it in looking unbelievably creamy and cheesy.

Taste: 6/10

The mac and cheese is good if you're really craving some Kraft Dinner while shopping, but don't expect more quality than KD. That being said, if I was really stressing out, this would be a great comfort food.

Freshness: 7/10

It was hot, tasted like it was made today, and the cheese was gooey (in a good way). It wasn't dried out at all but also didn't taste like it had been freshly made right before our eyes.

9. Chocolate Almond Cake - $1.99

Ellie Gilchrist

Appearance: 7/10

This ground almond cake coated in butterscotch and milk chocolate doesn't have a great presentation, but being able to see the almond, butterscotch, and chocolate layers was a plus.

Taste: 7/10

This dessert is nice if you're looking for sweet, chocolatey and crunchy. Sometimes a bit too sweet but if you're into that – go for it.

Freshness: 6/10

Probably not made today, but that didn't affect the taste for us.

8. Garlic Bread - 50 cents

Ellie Gilchrist

Appearance: 8/10

Very golden, like a sun-kissed green-flecked dough masterpiece.

Taste: 7/10

The seasoning and garlic butter are delicious, but not overpowering. Goes really well with the meatballs and gravy but also isn't the best garlic bread I've ever had.

Freshness: 6/10

It had been sitting under heat lamps so it wasn't as crisp as it could have been if it had just come out of the oven, but this is Ikea we're talking about.

7. Hot Dog - 75 cents

Ellie Gilchrist

Appearance: 6/10

This basic hot dog is sold just past the cash registers and looked evenly cooked throughout, but no grill marks for extra appearance points.

Taste: 8/10

The dog itself was evenly cooked and had nice flavours, and the bun was fluffy and warm. A great hot dog in my opinion.

Freshness: 8/10

The bun was freshly toasted, but the hot dogs had been sitting in a warming pan so lost a couple points because of that. Still, great overall considering it cost 75 cents.

6. Frozen Yogurt - $1

Ellie Gilchrist

Appearance: 9/10

This treat comes in vanilla, chocolate, or swirl. The swirl we got was beautiful and gets an almost perfect score for an almost perfect classic soft serve silhouette. (Despite being a bit melted in the photo)

Taste: 7/10

The vanilla was sweet and creamy and the chocolate really tasted like Cadbury hot chocolate. YUM.

Freshness: 7/10

The frozen yogurt was a nice level of cold, but it also melted really quickly.

5. Coffee - $1

Ellie Gilchrist

Appearance: 9/10

A beautiful dark chestnut colour, in a mug that you can buy 5 feet from the Ikea food court. (This coffee description sounds like the kind of sexy I aspire to).

Taste: 8/10

This menu item really surprised us because it was way more rich and full-bodied than we were expecting and wasn't something we had planned to include in the ranking. Starbucks, watch out.

4. Meatballs - $6.99

There's a reason Ikea is known for its Swedish meatballs –they're juicy, flavourful, and dirt cheap. Honestly, it was the gravy and lingonberry sauce really sealed the deal for me.

Freshness: 6/10

They tasted like they probably could have been frozen and then reheated in store, but if so, they're still super yummy considering.

3. Mashed Potatoes - Comes Free With The Meatballs

Ellie Gilchrist

Appearance: 10/10

What brand of highlighter is this gravy using? Asking for a friend. For real though, the gravy and mashed potato combo get a perfect appearance score for that level of glistening goodness.

Taste: 10/10

These were honestly up there with some of the best mashed potatoes I've ever had. A little bit salty, very creamy, and so so smooth. Can I come to Ikea and eat these every day?

Freshness: 7/10

Maybe made today, maybe not. The jury's still out on that one.

2. Carrot Cake - $2.99

Ellie Gilchrist

Appearance: 8/10

The carrot cake had a nice garnish of chopped nuts on the top (getting bougie here, Ikea) and an extra layer of cream cheese icing that visually broke up the double layer of cake nicely.

Taste: 10/10

The cream cheese icing was really the star of this show. It was sweet, but not overpoweringly so and made the whole cake taste like something I wouldn't be surprised to find at a nice bakery. The actual cake part was moist and at the right level of spice and the nuts added a nice crunch to the creaminess of the cake and icing.

Freshness: 8/10

This cake didn't taste like it had been frozen then defrosted for sale, although it may have been, so kudos to Ikea either way for making us not be able to tell.

1. Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake - $2.99

Ellie Gilchrist

Appearance: 10/10

The crumble on top of the cheesecake gave it some height, and the berries added colour and pizzazz to the creamy white of the cheesecake.

Taste: 10/10

This Ikea food court cheesecake blew me away. It was creamy, sweet, perfectly graham-crackery, with some balancing tartness from the berries. What more could a girl ask for?

Freshness: 7/10

The bottom crust wasn't as crisp as it could've been, giving away that it probably was frozen at one point.

After a full day and a very full stomach, I can definitely say I will be hitting up the Ikea food court more often. The food court also kind of looks like what I imagine the Google intern cafeteria would look like, so that's a plus too.

#FunFact: Ikea is so big that it's estimated that 10% of all Europeans alive today were conceived on an Ikea bed.